COLES will take action to maintain a “neglected verge” outside Maylands Coles, in light of community concern over increased rubbish, overgrown weeds and syringes in the area.
Some Maylands residents, including Bayswater councillor Elli-Petersen Pik, have seen more rubbish along the verges at the corner of Guildford Road and Caledonian Avenue over the past few weeks.
The site is owned by property group Charter Hall.
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Cr Petersen-Pik said some residents were also concerned over long-term issues including traffic at the Falkirk Avenue entrance, poor disabled and pedestrian access, lack of bike parking and inadequate lighting after dark.
“A few improvements to the carpark were made last year by the site owner, but, unfortunately, no further action has been taken,” he said.
“The fact that there’s no other big supermarket in Maylands makes it harder to get them to lift their game, as they have a captive local market.”
A Coles spokeswoman said Coles recognised it was important to ensure supermarket sites were well-maintained.
“As a matter of priority, we will take action to maintain the verges and clear rubbish which surround our Maylands store to keep the location tidy for customers, team members and the community,” she said.
A centre manager spokesman said the centre was actively working with Coles to ensure the centre was well-presented and provided an enjoyable shopping experience.
Bayswater Mayor Dan Bull said the City sympathised with residents’ concerns about the upkeep of the verge.
“Last week,the City wrote to Coles requesting the verge be maintained in line with our Street Verge Policy,” he said.
“As part of council’s commitment to greening our City, we are also in the process of investigating options for increasing our urban tree canopy around the Maylands shopping areas.
“This includes sections of Guildford Road and parts of Falkirk Avenue and Caledonian Avenue surrounding the Coles site.”
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